It appears there is no hope for an improved power supply to Nigerian households in 2025, as the federal government has made a provision of N1,989,579,379 to fuel State House generators during the course of the year.
This is higher than the amount budgeted for the same item in 2024 (N37,959,406), 2023 (N30,678,552), 2022 (N30,678,552), and 2021 (N45,678,552) combined by a staggering 1,272 per cent and 5,143 per cent higher than the N37,959,406 budgeted for the same item last year.
This high budget to fuel generators at the State House is indicative of a government that has lost hope in its power sector.
Power, as important as it is, has been a major challenge for Nigeria over the years, even though the country has made significant investments in the sector between 2021 and 2024. The budget for the power sector grew by 129.42 per cent, from N133.479 billion in 2020 to N306.23 billion in 2022, with a focus on capital expenditures for infrastructural development. In 2023, the government budgeted N258.494 billion for the power sector, with N251.609 billion allocated for capital expenditure.
It is estimated that between 2021 and 2024, Nigeria spent around N1.2 trillion on the power sector.
However, this has not resulted in significant improvements in power supply to the citizens, as homes and businesses are subjected to frequent blackouts.
In 2024 alone, the national power grid collapsed 12 times, an average of once every month.
Many businesses are shutting down, while others are finding their way out of the country because they can no longer bear the heavy costs of generating their own power.
Recently, the Director-General of the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines, and Agriculture (NACCIMA), Olusola Obadimu, raised the alarm that businesses in the country suffer an annual $29 billion revenue loss due to inadequate power supply.
The sector is said to be fraught with challenges such as inadequate power supply, unreliable energy infrastructure, and high electricity tariffs.
These challenges not only hamper the growth of industries but also undermine the ability of the country to attract investments and create jobs.
It is, however, heartening to note that in the 2025 budget proposal, a total sum of N2,086,790,002,565 has been earmarked for the Ministry of Power, of which a princely sum of N2,076,305,541,394 was set aside for capital projects.